Frenchareelegantpeople.(此话非常概括,是“帅才”,所以会统领一只队伍)Theyareartistsineverydaylife,havingaverygoodtasteineverything.Theydon’tlikeAmericantouristswearingjeanstogointotheirluxuriousandexquisitefive-starrestaurants,sooneoftherestaurantsputanoticeoutsideitsfrontdoor.Itread‘Notrousers,please!’(读完了,感觉是个很具体的例子,对吗?) 　　AgourmetcoffeewassoldinTokyoasanantidotetostress.Itsnamesupposedlymeanttopeoplethatitwouldsoothethetroubledbreast,yetwhenitwasprintedinEnglish,itturnedouttobe‘EaseYourBosoms.’(又是一个例子,我们开始揣摩：作者要说什么呢?) 　　SwedesstartedapromotionstunttopromotethesalesoftheirvacuumcleanernamedElectro.Theiroriginaladsloganwastranslatedas‘NothingsuckslikeElectro.’(又一个例子!意图何在?) 　　ThesellingofChevroletwasverybadinSouthAmerica.Andthereason?Thetranslationofthisbrandsoundslike‘nova’—whichmeans‘Itdoesn’tgo’inSpanish.(还是例子!为什么呀?) 　　WhenPepsi-colainvadedthehugeChineseandGermanmarkets,theeffortsinitiallyfizzled.Theproduct’sslogan,‘ComealivewiththePepsigeneration’,wasrenderedintoGermanas‘comeoutofthegravewithPepsi’.Coca-ColaalsodiscoveredsomethinghadgonewronginTaiwan.TheChinesecharacterschosenfortheworld-famousproductsoundlikeitsnamemeans‘BitetheWaxTadpole.’(依然是例子!肯定要说明某个道理,那这个道理是什么呢?) 　　Aplierscompany’sslogan‘Turnitloose’became,inSpanish,equivalentto‘sufferfromdiarrhea.’AcompanytranslateditsstickytapesloganintoJapaneseandcameupwithastickyproblem.Theslogan‘Stickslikecrazy’becameliterally‘itsticksfoolishly’inJapanese.(更多的例子!如果没有目的,那是不可能的!) 　　AtonicproductinChinaismadeofroyaljellyandissupposedtobeveryeffectiveforsomechronicdiseases.Yetitwastranslatedas‘oralliquid’,whichmeans‘saliva’inEnglish.Inthebrochure,itwasdescribedinthisway:‘ittasteslikemedicine’,whenthelanguageintheoriginalmeanttouseitasafoodtherapy.(例子!) 　　Eventhewrongnonverbalcuecanbringhavoctoaproduct.(此话也是“帅才”)AbabyfoodcompanyinitiallypackagedtheirAfricanproductsjustthesameasintheUS—withacutebabypictureonthejar.Theydidn’trealizethatbecausesomanyAfricanscannotread,nearlyallpackagedproductssoldinAfricacarrypicturesofwhatisinside.Pureedbaby!Howhorrible!(例子越举越厉害了,看来是要举到头了!) 　　InanAsiancity,wheretrafficisreallyverybad,tosecurepeople’ssafety,themunicipalgovernmenthasbuiltundergroundpassageways.Pedestriansareaskedtousethemwhenevertheyneedtocrossthemainstreet.Asignwaspostedonceontheroadside,pointingtotheentrancetoanundergroundpassageway,intendingtonotifyEnglish-speakingpassengers,‘GoUnderground’.(眼睛的余光已经看到全篇的结束了,所以,这肯定是最后一个例子啦!同时,马上也就要看到作者想说明什么问题啦!) 　　Wechuckledatsuchclumsytranslations.(比较概括,“帅才”,那为什么忍不住要笑呢?下面的解释就必然是作者的写作意图了)Isthereanythingwronginthelanguage?Wemustbeawarethatfewwordsandidiomscanbeliterallytranslated.It’sbesttohirethebestfortranslation.Don’ttakeitforgrantedthataslongasonespeaksalittleEnglish,heisautonomouslyabletodothetranslation.Ittakesawhiletolearntobeagoodtranslator.(就是它!千呼万唤使出来!)